Book Salon Appointments from WhatsApp with Phorest

This recipe takes a booking request on WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger and books it into your Phorest diary: the service, the stylist, a free time and the confirmation. Part of connecting Phorest to WhatsApp and AI chat.

What happens today

A client messages at 9.50pm: “hi can I get a cut and blow dry sat morning, with Mia if possible”. The salon is closed. In the morning the front desk opens Phorest, checks Mia’s Saturday, and replies with two times. The client answers after lunch, and one of the times has gone. Two more messages later the booking is in.

The diary already knows the answer. The wait is a person copying times from Phorest into a chat and back.

The flow that works

The client says what they want in their own words. AeroChat works out the service, the preferred day and time, and the stylist, and asks only for what is missing.
It checks Phorest for free times for that service and stylist, and offers up to three.
The client picks one. AeroChat finds them in Phorest by phone number, or adds them as a new client.
It books the appointment in Phorest and sends the confirmation with the address and your cancellation policy.

Phorest decides what is free. AeroChat only offers times Phorest shows as available.

The recipe

Copy this into AeroChat

When a client asks to book, follow these steps.

Find out which service they want, the day and time they prefer, and whether they want a particular stylist. If they are not sure which service, suggest one from our services in Phorest based on what they tell you.

Check Phorest for free times for that service at our branch, with their chosen stylist if they named one. Offer up to three times closest to what they asked for.

When they choose a time, find them in Phorest by the phone number they are messaging from. If they are not there, ask for their full name and create them as a new client.

Book the appointment in Phorest. If the time has gone, offer the next three closest times.

Send a confirmation with the service, stylist, date and time, our address, and our cancellation policy. Example policy: free changes up to 24 hours before.

Only quote services, prices and durations from Phorest. Never give a discount. For colour services on a new client, tell them a stylist will confirm after a patch test and hand over. If they ask anything you cannot answer, tell them a team member will reply and hand over. Reply in the client’s language.

Change the cancellation policy and the colour rule to your own before you paste it.

What to connect

Phorest. Ask Phorest for API access for your business. They send an API username, password and your business ID. Enter them in the AeroChat dashboard when the checklist asks.
Your diary set-up. Keep each stylist’s working hours, breaks and days off in Phorest, and make sure each service has the right duration. AeroChat books against what Phorest shows.
Your policies. Upload your address, parking notes and cancellation policy to the AeroChat knowledge base.
Deposits, if you take them. Airwallex is built in and sends a payment link in the chat. HitPay and Stripe connect through their APIs if you already use them. Payment links are included from the Growth plan.

After you paste the recipe, AeroChat builds the workflow as a draft and shows a checklist: add the Phorest credentials, upload your policies, then switch it on. Check the Phorest connection once against Phorest’s current API docs.

Using a different system? If it has a public API, it connects to AeroChat the same way: describe what you want, paste in its key, and it runs.

Can’t find your tool? Message us in the chat on this page and we’ll tell you how it connects.

What you still decide

Which services clients can book in chat, and which need a consultation first.
Whether clients can name a stylist, and how many times to offer.
Your cancellation window and whether you take a deposit.
When a conversation goes to a person.

The result to expect

Requests that arrive after closing become bookings that night, in the same Phorest diary your team already uses. The front desk stops relaying times and handles the conversations that need judgment.

Measure it with your own numbers in Phorest: bookings made outside opening hours, and online bookings as a share of all bookings, for a month before and after. In the first week, read a sample of booking chats and adjust the recipe where a reply is not how you would put it.

Next: move or cancel Phorest appointments in chat.